This invention relates to compositions containing a highly purified antiendotoxin compound and methods of preparing and using such compositions.
Since the 1930's, the increasing use of immunosuppressive therapy and invasive devices, as well as the increased incidence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, have led to a gradual rise in the occurrence of sepsis and septic shock. Currently, the estimated incidences in the U.S. of sepsis and septic shock are 400,000 and 200,000 patients/year, respectively. This results in about 100,000 fatalities/year, making septic shock the most common non-coronary cause of death in hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Currently, ICU therapy for septic shock is limited to antibiotic therapy, cardiovascular resuscitation, vasopressor/ionotrope therapy, and ventilatory support. This ICU care can cost up to $1,500/day and average a total of $13,000 to $30,000 per patient. Clearly, any therapy that can reduce the morbidity and cost for the care of sepsis/septic shock will be of great value.
It is likely that antibiotics themselves can worsen morbidity associated with sepsis; their bactericidal action can result in the release of endotoxin from gram negative bacteria, which is believed to induce many pathophysiological events such as fever, shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and hypotension. Consequently, medicines for the treatment of gram negative sepsis have been desired for some time, especially drugs capable of blocking endotoxin or cytokines derived from endotoxin-mediated cellular stimulation. To this end, various strategies for treatment have included administration of antibodies or other agents against lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or cytokines, such as TNF-α and interleukin-1. For various reasons, these approaches have failed.
While endotoxin itself exists in multiple molecular forms, the expression of many of the toxic properties of endotoxin is attributed to the highly conserved hydrophobic lipid A portion. An effective drug that acts as an antagonist to this conserved structure is known as E5564 (also known as compound B1287 and SGEA). This drug is described as compound 1 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,824, which is incorporated herein by reference. E5564 has the formula: (α-D-Glucopyranose, 3-O-decyl-2-deoxy-6-O-[2-deoxy-3-O-[(3R)-3-methoxydecyl)-6-O-methyl-2-[[(11Z)-1-oxo-11-octadecenyl)amino]-4-O-phosphono-β-D-glucopyranosyl]-2-[(1,3-dioxotetradecyl)amino]-,1-(dihydrogen phosphate), which can be provided as a tetrasodium salt. E5564 has a molecular weight of 1401.6.